Tomato Relish

In the Summer of 2012, I had the fortune of visiting Portland, Oregon.  One morning we went to the Grand Central Bakery for breakfast.  (If you are in the area, go!)  On the special they had a toasted bagel with poached egg and "Tomato Relish".  I'd never heard of tomato relish before this.  I like pickled things.  I like tomatoes.  I must try this! 

When I placed my order, the gentleman at the counter said they'd just gotten in a crate of heirloom tomatoes that morning, did I want a fresh tomato instead?  Living in the SF Bay Area, I'd been eating tomatoes since May from my garden, and started to wonder if all of the lycopene would change my skin color.  "Actually, I'm dying to try tomato relish instead."  Oh, I'm so very very glad I did. 

Criticism in the City.

On Saturday afternoon, some friends and I left a wine bottling event and decided to have lunch in the Mission District.  We were curious to try out Pig and Pie (and found it to be exactly what we hoped for: casual, delicious, and good ingredients.)  We all agreed it was what we were looking for on that autumn afternoon.  As we sat and talked, our sweet tooths got the best of us.  I pulled twitter up to see what flavors Humphrey Slocombe was offering.  I didn't find the flavors; I found they had duck fat pecan pies.  My southern gal was sold.  We headed around the corner to Humphrey Slocombe.  

Tomato Relish

Last Thursday, I pulled my tomato plants from their bed.  It was time, the plants were drying and dying and few green bulbs remained.  Two to three bowls of ripe tomatoes remained.

While I was in Portland in early August, I went to Grand Central Bakery for breakfast.   I ordered the Egg Sandwich: easy egg with tomato relish on a toasted bagel.  Heaven!  I asked for the recipe and modified it for fresh tomatoes, honey, and canning.  It turned out beautifully.  

The only disadvantage is as it cooks, hunger occurs. 

I don't think these will last long, but it's lovely to have a bit of summer kissed fruit safely canned.

(no photos of the process itself: was using the phone for audiobooks during the cooking)

...more tomato adventures later...

Random shed discovery

While rummaging through the open air shed, I came across this nest.  I don't know who built it or if it was ever used. It's still back there. Random shed art!

Candles!

After collecting wax for the last couple of years, the wax was cleaned and candles were made!

Late harvest fortune

After a frustrating summer for the bees, something struck their fancy when it flowered late. We ended up with a honey harvest! 

Early spring honey

Nothing tastes better!

Favas

Some of these favas are ready to pick!  The plants have taken over the garden walk way.

Why bike?

Lizzy from Timbuk2 used twitter to collect answers to a simple question:  Why do you bike commute? 

The article can be found on the Atlantic. 
Thanks Lizzy!  The community summed up my feelings exactly! 

Four days in bee time

Last year M took out two frames from the brood box to capture a swarm. (The swarm is doing great)  He didn't replace the frames, bee space was violated, and the girls built out comb.  They were given a new brood box (with frames!) and the old box with burr comb was left out for the bees to rob. Unfortunately,  a cluster of bees didn't leave. For two nights (temps were around 30 - 40 F) these bees sat out there on the wax. M realized there was some brood in the comb. We set the brood box back on the hive Wednesday afternoon.  Sunday morning we went out to remove the burr comb and found what they had made.

With water, smoke, and patient brushing,  the bees were returned to the hive and the comb left in a wine bucket for the bees to rob. 

I'm still amazed what these girls can do.

Fall and Winter

If there's a way to easily update the blog via smart phone (and I'm sure there is!), it's more likely this blog would have been more lively!  It's been a busy fall, and now we are in winter.  

Harvested honey and moved a hive

In the last couple of weeks, we've been busy!  We harvested our Urania hive, and moved our Terpsichore hive.  

Plum Wine, 2010

Mostly because I hated to see any plums wasted (and wasn't brave enough to try canning yet!) I decided to make a plum wine.